A Lionhearted Mouse
by Captain Buggles
Summary: Unimpressed with the very idea of Ash Ketchum, Pikachu decides to take his life into his own paws. Setting out on his own, he vows to become a League Champion without a human's help! But is he even allowed to? And will there be more pressing and perhaps even life-threatening matters to attend to while he tries to do so? Smart Ash, move over. It's time for Smart Pikachu!
1. Chapter 1

**A Lionhearted Mouse**

**So basically, this is a parody whose idea came to me when I was joking around with friends about the intelligence of Ash Ketchum. At first I said that Pikachu is secretly telling Ash what to do all the time (with mistakes that arise from Ash being a poor listener), but then I took it a step further, and this came about. What if Ash would only hold Pikachu back? What if Pikachu was a hero in his own right? This story somewhat-seriously takes a look at that.**

**In case you haven't guessed already, the specific thing this parodies is fanfiction where Ash's journey is rewritten with Ash being smarter/more special/more skilled.**

* * *

Pikachu sat in his cramped Pokeball, quietly cursing his life. He absolutely hated that capsule that humans thought so highly of, it brought him nothing but misery. There was a simulated landscape inside, with a decent amount of comfort and nothing to disturb him, and he had to admit it wasn't exactly awful in itself. It wasn't like they were truly trying to make him miserable, and he understood why other Pokémon didn't mind these things. It was just that he personally hated the feeling of being cooped up in some fake little world, with little personal freedom, and the humans had completely failed to understand that.

Pikachu had taken to watching the evil old bastard who'd caught him for some form of entertainment, even though he wasn't stupid, so nothing the old man did realistically seemed all that evil. He just liked to pretend, it sort of made things more fun. Unfortunately, he was often gone, since he was apparently very important in the human world. He seemed to always have one thing or another to attend to, and over time Pikachu had learned that his name was Professor Oak.

Pikachu couldn't pretend the Professor wasn't trying to be nice. He entirely took responsibility for his behavior, and acknowledged it was his own fault he was usually inside of the accursed sphere. But still, he wasn't sorry either. He'd never asked to be caught. Some Pokémon did, so those were the ones humans were supposed to catch. Not some random Pikachu who has been trying to hate you as much as possible so you'll realize you should let him go.

It seemed like eternity in that damnable sphere, toying with the interactive features, napping, eating simulated food. One day, he couldn't even see outside, because the Professor had hidden his Pokeball in the needlessly high-tech starter selection stand so no one would ask for him. From what Pikachu gathered, it was a day where young humans got their first Pokémon. He hadn't wanted or expected anyone to choose him, after all, the Professor told him he was unfit for anything but a very skilled Trainer. So he just listened (luckily he had excellent ears) with mild interest as each person came by and took their pick. But that all changed when a boy came stumbling in late, wide-eyed and frantic.

"They're all gone?!" the boy cried.

"_You got here as fast as a drunk Slowpoke, what do you expect, kid?_" Pikachu muttered to himself.

"I'm afraid so, Ash." Professor Oak told him apologetically.

"But Professor, there has to be SOMETHING I can have! I've waited my whole life for this, I can't give up now!" Ash cried, sounding like he were about to throw a fit.

"_When your house is a goddamn metal sphere, then I'll feel sorry for you, kid._" Pikachu bitterly muttered again.

"Well, there is one more Pokémon I have, but I have to warn you, it's quite a handful..." Professor Oak said hesitantly, not entirely sure it was really the best decision.

"Please, Professor! I can do it! I can still prove myself!" Ash begged.

"Well, alright… If you insist..." the Professor said, as he pressed a button on the stand and Pikachu's Pokeball rose up out of the center.

"_Aw fuuuck no._" Pikachu mumbled to himself, unable to believe what was about to happen. He was REALLY gonna have to listen to some stupid kid who couldn't even get somewhere remotely on time? As the Professor's hand grabbed his Pokeball, and as he felt himself materializing in a rush of light and energy, Pikachu made his decision.

With a burst of electricity, Pikachu attacked both Ash and Professor Oak, and with a graceful jump at the Professor's hand, he managed to snatch his Pokeball away.

"Oh, goodness! T-this has never happened before! Ash, quickly, the door!" Professor Oak cried, but for all the speed a ten-year-old human had, it was nothing compared to the speed of a Pikachu. Regardless, they were really stupid to assume he would actually use the door anyway. That was basically the most predictable thing he could think of, and he already knew they thought the same way. So, Pikachu gracefully jumped up to a nearby window and not-so-gracefully smashed it with his own Pokeball, keeping Ash and the Professor at bay with more electricity as needed. Thank Arceus the humans made their damn prison-spheres so hard!

Once Pikachu had enough room to escape, he wasted no time. With a cry of pure elation, he ran off towards the wilderness, and when he was far enough, he carefully opened his Pokeball with a nice, long stick and thoroughly fried the inside with electricity. For good measure, he also gnawed the hinges apart. Perfect! Freedom at last! It was that simple the whole time!

As he scampered off deeper into Route 1, Pikachu began to think harder about what he would do next. He had to admit, there wasn't really anything all that great about being a run-of-the-mill wild Pokémon, either. And he did like to battle, as long as it was fair. From what he knew, humans took something called the 'Pokémon League Challenge' very seriously, and the human who actually managed to win would surely have all sorts of fame and respect. He didn't believe that the 'Ash' human could do it, not even for a second, but the thought of 'respect' really resonated with him. If he got that kind of respect, he could easily convince humans to see things his way! He'd be too powerful to be caught! Too revered, too revolutionary to be caught! Too mighty for any of those puny prison-spheres! Pikachu's eyes sparkled with the wonder of it all. Maybe it didn't have to be a human who took the League challenge. If it did, he'd just shock whoever the hell made such a dumb rule. After all, he'd just outsmarted two humans at the same time! With some hard work and patience, who was to say he couldn't take a good shot at it?

But then again, he WAS just a Pikachu. If he was so great, he would've never been caught by that old guy in the first place. And his shocks didn't bother Ground types at all... If he wanted to be the first Pokémon Champion, he needed a good team. Some strong, dedicated, similarly wronged Pokémon who he could trust with his life, who would stay by his side and uphold his vision at all costs...Some Pokemon like…

"Hey! Hey, mister!" A small voice called out from behind him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Who's there?!" Pikachu cried with a start, quickly turning around. When he saw who it was, he felt rather embarrassed for getting so worked up. It was just a small female Spearow, with a crooked wing and big, questioning eyes.

"It's just me, mister! Say, I saw how you broke that metal catchy thingy back there, and I've never seen anyone do it so different! So I figured you're a smart guy, mister, and I figured you might know how to help me." the Spearow said, hopping back and forth as she spoke.

"...What is it?" Pikachu asked hesitantly. If he was gonna get respect, he realized he couldn't exactly go around being an unwarranted jerk.

"My wing's bad cause I fell on it wrong, and I can't fly for nothing no more! My momma kicked me out of the nest a month ago on account of me getting too big, so how am I supposed to get food now?" the Spearow asked, cocking her head as she did so.

"Hm…" Pikachu said, inspecting the wing closely. It didn't really look all that bad from a glance. It seemed like something that could heal pretty easily. "How much does it hurt?"

"Not a whole lot when I hold it like that, but it aches when I go to try and fly!"  
the Spearow told him.

"Okay then, follow me." Pikachu said, scampering off as the Spearow quickly hopped along behind him. Sniffing the air carefully, he steadily moved deeper into the trees surrounding the route.

"What are we looking for, mister?" the Spearow asked.

"Oran berries. They make you heal a lot faster." Pikachu explained.

"Oh gosh mister, that's awful funny you should mention that! Lately, a new kind of bird's been around here! They're mean, and always real hungry! Why, my momma didn't even wanna kick me out so fast, but she didn't have no choice because they were bullying us all away from here! I don't think they're gonna appreciate you messing with those berry trees a whole lot!" the Spearow warned.

"I'm an electric type! How bad could it possibly be?" Pikachu said, trying to be brave.

"There's an awful lot, mister, I'm not so sure..." the Spearow said worriedly, as she hopped over a protruding root.

"It'll be fine! Would you rather starve or get eaten because you can't fly?"

"N-no, of course not! What sorta question is that, mister?!"

"Then follow me. I'll handle it if we get in trouble."

After that, they carried on mostly in silence, Pikachu stopping every once in a while to sniff. But as the scent of berries got stronger, so too did a strange, musty odor, an odor of carrion and bloody, oily feathers...

"Well now, what do we have here?" a deep voice drawled from up above. Pikachu and Spearow froze in place and hesitantly looked up at the stout, dark, avian form it originated from, a bird who seemed to be perpetually wearing a hat of feathers. "Lost, you two? Well, you came to just the right place..." the dark bird said, before breaking out in a fit of raucous laughter.

"You're trying awful hard to put a scare in us, ain'tcha sir?" Spearow said, which caused Pikachu to chuckle and the bird to scowl.

"Listen, you damn wad of feathers, I'm a Murkrow! I don't take any sort of disrespect! I'll rip your livers out in a second, I swear!" the Murkrow cried.

"Okay, but why haven't you already? It'd be real smart if you just went and did it as soon you saw us, did it all sneaky-like so we wouldn't have no time to react, but here you are just looking and talking…" the Spearow said rather innocently, more like a genuine criticism than a taunt.

"...That's...you're...I never thought of it like that, really. I always thought you had to scare people first, but that would save me a lot of time! Thanks, kid, you really put a whole new perspective on-" In the next moment, the Murkrow was twitching and spasming on the ground, packed with Pikachu's electricity.

"What an idiot." Pikachu said simply. "Come on, before anyone else spots us!" he told the Spearow, as he ran off in another direction.

After a while, Oran trees began to come into sight, and the air was thick with the scent of them. Quickly and quietly, Pikachu climbed one of the trees to grab some berries, after telling Spearow to wait silently at the bottom of the tree. Everything went smoothly until Pikachu came back down, but that was the end of his good fortune. Suddenly, Pikachu became aware of at least seven pairs of red eyes, quietly watching him and Spearow from high in the trees.

"Get lost, mouse!" a Murkrow cried out, divebombing them as she did so.

"Run!" Pikachu cried out, while zapping the Murkrow and dropping all but three berries he managed to keep in his cheeks, since he knew he'd need all four legs for enemies who weren't human.

After rushing and struggling through a myriad of trees, Pikachu and Spearow soon came to a large clearing, with the Murkrow still hot on their tails. The air was filled with their squawking and cursing now, since the original several had called many more to join the chase. Just when it seemed like Pikachu and Spearow would finally be in the clear, even more Murkrow came in from the opposite direction, and there was no safe direction to go.

"We're in some nasty winds now, mister!" Spearow cried, pressing up close to Pikachu.

"It's okay, just eat the Oran berries!" Pikachu said, spitting the three berries out.

"You carried them in your mouth, mister, that's just bad manners!" Spearow complained.

"Your mother spat your food up for you, just do it! You need your flight right now! Meanwhile, I'll think of something!" Pikachu cried, as he zapped some of the Murkrow that were beginning to swoop overhead

The Murkrow became more aggressive by the second, battering both Pikachu and Spearow. Pikachu was rapidly growing tired, and he was noticing more and more cuts and aches appearing on his body as he tried to block blows meant for Spearow while still electrocuting the Murkrow. But as a Murkrow came down and it's talons made an especially vicious cut across Spearow's back, staining feathers with blood, something within Pikachu suddenly decided it had had enough.

"This again…" Pikachu grunted, recognizing the odd, malevolent feeling welling up inside of him, and the black aura that emanated from his body. With a sudden explosion of violent thoughts also came a surge of incredible power, so much that he could hardly even contain it, and the effort of doing so only made him angrier. With his rapidly weakening body, he knew he had no time to be picky. Crying out in both anger and the pain of straining his wounded body, Pikachu released a massive blast of electricity, immediately dropping every Murkrow in the area.

"...Huh? W-what...what'd you do?! What happened, you damn mouse?!" A Murkrow struggled to say, as he shakily struggled to get up. "Shit, I can't move! What'd you do?!" he screeched.

Of course, Pikachu had no desire to answer that. He shakily split the Oran Berries between himself and Spearow, then got Spearow to her feet and left as soon as he felt some of his energy return to him, awkwardly stepping around the mess of fallen Murkrow in the process.

"What in the world was all of that, mister? You did something mighty back there! I knew it! I knew you were something special right from the start!" Spearow shouted, running circles around Pikachu.

"To be honest, I didn't mean to...It's just a thing that happens when I'm in trouble, I guess." Pikachu tiredly explained, unable to fathom how Spearow already had so much energy.

"An awful big 'thing' to just do on accident, mister." Spearow said skeptically.

"Really, it's more for defense than anything. I don't even really like it, it gets me really mean and worked up. It's been like that for a long time, ever since I was little… The ugly old human that I just escaped from before I met you said something about it being called Nasty Plot." Pikachu explained.

"That's really something, mister! And I think my wing's just about healed up!" Spearow said happily, flapping her injured wing carefully. With a couple of hops and a little more effort, she was airborne.

"Great! ...But hey, I don't think you should be hanging around here anymore… Especially not with that many Murkrow. Now that they've seen you with me, they might want revenge..." Pikachu said in a concerned tone.

"You sure do got a nice point there, mister. ...But I don't know where else to go. My momma didn't really bother to tell me much about that. Where were you gonna go? I bet it'd be safe enough for me too."

"I was gonna beat the Pokemon League without a Trainer, so the humans would see that I'm not just someone they can go catching and bossing around however they want. I wasn't really trying to go to any single place." Pikachu explained.

"... Shucks, mister, can you really even do such a thing?!" Spearow's eyes were wide now, and Pikachu had her full attention.

"Maybe not, but I'll find a way to do it anyway! One way or another, humans are gonna see that I don't need them to be great!" Pikachu said with determination, his cheeks sparking with pride.

"...Do...do you think I could do it too?! Could I help?" Spearow said giddily, it was obvious that this was about the craziest sort of thought she had ever encountered and she wanted in.

"...Well, I don't see why not. Beggars can't be choosers." Pikachu conceded, more because he was worried about her safety and not because he actually thought she'd be a strong new member.

"What's that mean, mister?"

"Nevermind that. Come on, we gotta get out of here before any more Murkrow try to get us. Fly up and tell me which way is out." Pikachu said, as he began to walk away.

"Whatever you say, mister!" Spearow said, as she quickly took off straight upwards.

"_Where did all of the Murkrow even come from though? I've never even seen them around before._" Pikachu thought to himself, knowing that Spearow wouldn't know. He'd only just started this half-baked plan, and things were already more complicated than he expected!

Unfortunately, it was hardly ever going to be very simple from there on out.

* * *

**Just a couple of clarifications, in case you're vibrating with complaints along the lines of "BUG YOU DUMB SHIT HARDLY ANY OF THIS IS GEN 1 STUFF"**  
**1: All mechanics and additions to Pokémon are up to date.**  
**2: That being said, this also follows a good amount of anime logic, although it also works more maturely and realistically within the confines of Pokémon logic/physics in general. (No ridiculous explosions or "aim for the horn" or "thunder armor" bullshit here) Most importantly, the concept that a Pokémon doesn't need to be OU tier to kick major ass still stands.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A Lionhearted Mouse**  
**Ch 2**

* * *

Once Spearow found the way out of the forest, she and Pikachu wasted no time in getting back on the main route. The rest of the day was largely just walking, talking, Pikachu teaching Spearow about humans, and foraging for food, since Pikachu was too exhausted to start his "bigger plans". At night, they hid in a thick, leafy tree and took turns watching for Murkrow, but luckily they had managed to travel pretty far from the densest parts of the flock.

In the morning, feeling fully refreshed and recovered thanks to their Pokémon biology, the duo pressed on towards Viridian City. But now, Pikachu had some new ideas in his head, and he was ready for the mysterious "bigger plans" he talked about..

"Training!" he shouted from atop a tree stump. It was rather impressive, at least to Spearow, since he was bigger and older than her despite not actually being very big or very old.

"Training?" Spearow repeated back, cocking her head in uncertainty.

"If we want to beat the League, we need a ton of training! Those Murkrow back there almost killed us! Unacceptable! If this team wants to change the world, we gotta sweat for it!" Pikachu cried dramatically.

"But mister, ain't neither of us the types of folks that can sweat!" Spearow objected.

"That is exactly the kind of attitude that WON'T solve any of our problems! We'll sweat in spirit! In heart! In soul! We'll bleed from our eyes if we have to!" Pikachu yelled back, struggling to keep his face as serious as possible in light of such an embarrassing flaw in his speech.

"That's just nasty, mister…" Spearow mumbled in disgust, as she covered her eyes with one of her wings.

"Well maybe my motivational speeches don't actually make a lot of sense, but the important thing is that we have to get good enough to beat Gym Leaders. Since we're lone Pokémon, who knows what kind of prejudiced, underhanded things they'll try to pull on us?!" Pikachu cried.

"But what kinds of Pokémon do they got? I'm only any good when I fight Sentret or bugs… Pidgey get a whole lot meaner when they're mad, and sometimes I win against Rattata, as long as I don't let 'em bite. Why, one time one of 'em almost gnawed my leg clean off!"

"Fear not, young comrade! We need to beat 8 gyms in this region, and they each have a type specialization, from what the humans say. They also say there's 18 types! I'm not actually very good with math, but I do know that means there's bound to be scenarios where you'll be useful!" Pikachu said in an animated, authoritative fashion, trying to be as encouraging as possible.

"Oh, thank the blue skies!" Spearow replied, as she began to hop about with excitement.

"Now, let's begin!" Pikachu cried, dramatically raising a stubby foreleg into the air.

Spearow initially had reservations about fighting other Pokemon for reasons besides food, territory, and self defense, but with Pikachu's continuous reassurance that it was for a great cause, and the reminders that their success could potentially bring about changes that would bring incredible amounts of respect and dignity to Pokémon everywhere, it didn't seem so bad.

Pikachu was worried they'd have to step foot in a human place for healing Pokémon eventually, but as it turned out, they were able to get more Oran berries and rest relatively in peace. Much like the stupid Murkrow who had been too busy talking to attack them, the entire Murkrow flock was just a conglomeration of rather weak, dim-witted individuals who lacked a proper leader and completely relied on numbers and intimidation. Pikachu reasoned it made sense. After all, the Murkrow had only managed to occupy one of the safest areas of Kanto.

Regardless, they became invaluable in training. Seeing as they had no idea Pikachu could only Nasty Plot under duress, and his electricity was rather frightening regardless, they were almost convinced he was some kind of divine being. They brought an impressive assortment of berries from all around, and with a simple sparking of his cheeks, Pikachu could convince any one of them to spar with him or Spearow. It was especially helpful for Spearow, who managed to learn Pursuit earlier than she would have otherwise from watching and imitating the Murkrow. They even managed to find a discarded plastic bag that had blown away from town on the winds, so Pikachu could carry a multitude of berries with him at all times.

It took another five days to get to Viridian City, considering that they were taking their time and training along the way. One advantage of being a group without a human was that you didn't need as many comforts and frills, so you didn't feel obligated to reach another area of civilization quickly. On top of that, civilization meant they would leave behind the Murkrow, whom they had developed an odd, strangely friendly sort of bond with.

Still, when they actually got there, the temptation of human luxury was incredible. Restaurants and markets were the main draw, wafting all kinds of delicious scents. Their urges were temporarily forgotten in a mild wave of accomplishment when Pikachu managed to fashion a crude backpack from some sheets and thick string he found in people's trash, which was still an improvement over the plastic bag, but once the sights and smells started hitting them again, they could hardly even stand it.

"Do you think those humans would mind so much if we stole? …I mean, not nothing real important, j-just a couple things, mister?" Spearow asked Pikachu hungrily, as they passed by a street cart that practically oozed with the smell of cooking meat.

"Well it's not like we owe them anything, but I get the feeling that if we really want this whole thing to work, we gotta prove that we're really some upstanding Pokémon and not just rude and uncivilized. Then they might take us even less seriously…Or worse, take active measures to stop us." Pikachu explained regretfully. Arceus knew that humans had an abundance of absolutely incredible food, despite their stupidity.

"Maybe we can trade...We have extra berries, and I saw some real pretty rocks earlier today." Spearow suggested.

"No, humans don't really trade food and stuff, from what I've seen they use…" Suddenly, a new realization dawned on him. "Money! That's it, kid! We'll get money!" Pikachu cried.

"But how do you even do that, mister?" Spearow asked.

"The same way human Trainers do! We'll battle humans, take their money, and then bask in the glory of human food fair and square!" Pikachu excitedly babbled, before he suddenly adopted a much more serious and thoughtful expression. "But...not everything would be worth the same, I'm sure of that… And the humans don't have enough respect for us as it is…" Pikachu said. "They could scam us, and take way too much of our money! We'd be putting way too much trust in them!"

"So what do we do about all that mess?"

"There's only one option, kid…We'll have to use..." Pikachu's expression became grave. "Math."

Spearow gave a shrill, mortified cry. "Oh no mister, I don't hardly know nothing about no math! My momma taught me some basic numbers, with some of the addition and the take away too, just enough to know when someone's been stealing from your stashes and thought you wouldn't take no notice. But that ain't gonna get us much of nowhere if we're gonna have a lot of that money stuff!" Spearow told Pikachu, her tone rife with worry.

"Well, I know a little bit more than that, and I can count pretty easily, but I don't know much about multiplying or dividing, so I'm mostly in the same situation as you, kid….So unless we find someone really smart really soon, we'll have to make do with what we have, and learn along the way. Reading's gonna be a problem too. Maybe even writing, for when someone can't understand you just pointing and gesturing and acting stuff out. But definitely reading! If we can't read, it'll be a ton easier for them to trick us!"

"Humans are so complicated!" Spearow cried, ruffling her feathers and rapidly pecking the ground in frustration.

So for that moment, they decided to push the reading issue aside. Pikachu made another, much smaller sack for Spearow to carry around her neck, so she could collect money, and then they decided to just go around battling Trainers. They got a lot of odd looks, being a Pikachu with a crude backpack and a Spearow just walking around together with no supervision, but most people understood their intentions with the appropriate gestures. And with their several days of continuous training, in a town of mostly beginning Trainers, they managed to build up a respectable win streak. But people were most confused after the battles, when Pikachu and Spearow would gesture and prod at their bags and purses and follow them around. It was frustrating at first, since people usually assumed they wanted treats. But once Pikachu found a stray coin on the ground, people had a much easier time understanding what they wanted.

In fact, people were so amused by the sight of a couple of cute Pokémon going around battling and asking for money that they fully played along, and gave the required prize money, thinking that some Trainer somewhere had taught their two Pokémon an adorable trick. The two even attracted more Trainers to battle, and a respectable crowd, who all found themselves cheering the two determined Pokémon on, with occasional murmurs questioning who their trainer was. Before the two even knew it, hours had passed, and although they were exhausted, they'd made a couple thousand pyen in tips and prize money, and gotten in even more training by fighting others.

Then it was time for the moment of truth, the thing that separated true Champions from wannabes...They had to use a Pokémon Center.

"I wonder how much it'll cost…" Pikachu said fearfully, as they walked into the building. With a bit of thought and common sense, it hadn't really been hard to find. The Pokeball symbol made it obvious it was related to Pokémon, there was a faint smell of various medicines around the whole building, and to make it even easier, all they really had to do was follow the last person they defeated.

Pikachu could hardly even believe his exhausted eyes as the Trainer handed his Pokeballs over to the pink haired lady behind the front counter, and she just put them in a machine for a little while and healed them like it was nothing! No money or anything!

"...You're telling me this place was FREE this whole time?!" Pikachu cried incredulously, which just sounded like excited little squeaks and Pikachu noises to everyone else. Once he was over his relief and amazement, he quickly ran over to the counter,jumped up, and theatrically played dead to get his point across.

"Oh my! You're that little Pikachu everyone's talking about!" Nurse Joy cooed, petting Pikachu's head as Spearow fluttered up onto the counter next to him. "So well trained! Coming to a Pokémon Center all by yourself!" That sentence completely ruined all the positive recognition and the lovely feeling of being petted for Pikachu. Sparking his cheeks threateningly, Pikachu quickly backed away and shook his head.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Nurse Joy asked with concern.

Pikachu noticed the Pokeball symbol on the counter and pointed to it, then himself and Spearow, and shook his head fiercely.

"...You two don't actually have a Trainer?! Oh, what brave, brave little Pokémon!" Nurse Joy cried out. Pikachu and Spearow were feeling bashful yet rather proud for a second, before Nurse Joy continued. "Venturing into a town just to find someone who you'd like to raise you! How touching! Hold on you little darlings, we have an adoption agency, I can just-" Pikachu flopped on his side and let out a loud, dramatic cry of exasperation. Quickly getting up again, he fiercely shook his head again, with Spearow also joining in for emphasis.

"...Are you trying to tell me you're wild?!" Nurse Joy said, after a significant pause that she mostly spent trying to rationalize that thought as something else.

Pikachu smiled and nodded, and Spearow gave a cry of affirmation.

"Unbelievable! Just a Pikachu and a Spearow?! How did you even plan all of this out?" Nurse Joy cried. Now the conversation had the attention of several more Trainers who were in the Pokémon Center at the time.

Pikachu just shrugged with a smug expression, obviously enjoying the attention he was getting. People around him talked amongst each other skeptically and stared in disbelief, but once Nurse Joy confirmed it with a small scanning device, which was usually used to find out who a lost Pokémon belonged to, everyone grew even more excited.

After they were healed up, and Pikachu's crackling cheeks discouraged some of the hungry looks that Trainers were now giving him upon finding out he was wild, things in the city became much more frustrating.

Word of a wild pair of Pokémon who were acting sort of like Trainers spread quickly from the Pokémon Center, and suddenly everyone who thought they were someone was trying to rematch them, this time with the intention of capture. Fortunately, no one had suddenly become much smarter or stronger within a single day, so they managed to either win or escape each time, and retain their freedom. But even so, it was incredibly frustrating that absolutely no one seemed to understand that the whole point of their journey was to not be captured.

It even got to the point that they couldn't actually buy anything with the money they'd won, simply because it had become like some sort of game for every Trainer in the area. They were coming from all throughout the city, practically spilling out from the alleys and side streets to try catching the peculiar pair, often ambushing them before they could actually do anything productive. Ironically, fights between Trainers would occasionally break out as well, because they often argued over who would be allowed to try and catch Pikachu and/or Spearow next.

The only upside was that Pikachu and Spearow definitely weren't afraid to take advantage of anyone who grew tired of battling and believed they could be won over with treats, so despite how completely out of hand and sort of ridiculous the situation got, they ended up getting stomachs full of treats and human food for free, and Pikachu was even able to store the less messy things for later.

By the time nightfall rolled around, the two had decided to slip out into Route 22, away from the overbearing gaggle of Trainers.

* * *

"This is ridiculous!" Pikachu cried, slumping on the ground in both exhaustion and exasperation. "We're like some weird cross between celebrities and prison escapees!"

"So what're we gonna do about it, mister? We didn't even see if there was a gym there!"

"Well, doing any more about it today is just too much effort after all of that chaos… But tomorrow, we'll use this area to find a third member for our team during the day. If that kind of madness is what we're gonna be up against any time in the future, we need new recruits immediately!" As Spearow vigorously nodded in agreement, Pikachu kept speaking. "Then once tomorrow night comes, we'll sneak back into the city and spy around for what we need to know. I've got my ears, and you've got your wings, so it's critical we do this without attracting attention." Pikachu instructed.

"Right, mister!" Spearow said with determination, before they went off to find somewhere safe and hidden to sleep.

In the morning, they began their efforts to find new recruits. Pikachu's first idea was rather simple: Shoot a bunch of electricity into the air and shout out his primary goal to get attention, and then give a more detailed speech to whoever came by. It sounded rather intelligent and efficient in theory, and Pikachu was rather proud of the idea… Until all his electricity and noise really managed to do was scare and/or annoy everyone, that is. For all the trouble he went through, Pikachu accomplished nothing but getting chewed out by an incredibly irate Mankey, who told him in very rude but easily understandable terms that his plan sounded like a load of Tauros shit and he was nothing but a nuisance. When the Mankey still hadn't quieted down after literally about three minutes, Pikachu shut him up with a sustained Thunder Wave and fearfully called to Spearow that they needed to try another area as quickly as possible.

Pikachu's next 'genius' plan was to get the help of a few Murkrow from Route 1. It went smoothly at first, because once Spearow had fetched them, they were completely dedicated to assisting Pikachu. Unfortunately, they ran into the same obstacle that had previously made the Murkrow situation much more convenient and less dangerous: None of the Murkrow were all that smart. And because they were known habitat invaders on top of that, no one trusted them very much either. The end result was a bunch of arguing and struggling and yelling, and Pikachu was actually starting to form a poor reputation on Route 22. With a groan of frustration, Pikachu dismissed the Murkrow.

While Pikachu idled around under a shady tree for a while to half-heartedly think of a plan that wouldn't be terrible, Spearow came up with her own idea.

"We still have plenty of treats and berries and whatnot, so why don't we just go and bribe them? Most all folks like some good food!" Spearow chimed, obviously thinking it was a promising idea.

"Nah, that wouldn't work…All the Pokémon here think we're nuts now, they'd probably say we're trying to give out some kind of drug or poison..." Pikachu muttered.

"...Well, don't know if you don't try, do you?" Spearow said. She then took a couple of hops forward, flew a few meters into the air, and inhaled deeply. Her next two words were so shrill and piercing that they filled the air for over half a mile, and even further for those who could hear better than humans. "WHO'S HUNGRYYYY?!"

Everything was still for a moment. Even the sounds of insects and wind seemed to stop. But then, all at once, it was the exact opposite. There was rustling, shouting, yelling, and noise from every direction, and within only moments, dozens of Pokémon had arrived as if they had simply materialized from thin air.

"Sweet mother of lightning." Pikachu whispered to himself in astonishment, as he whipped his head around to look at all the gathering Pokémon.

"I TOLD you folks like themselves some food, mister!" Spearow cried, laughing heartily at the expression on Pikachu's face.

The crowd was buzzing with conversation, mostly along the lines of "When's the food?!" or "What kind of food?!". It then became much quieter for a moment, and a single young male Nidoran ran forward to quickly sniff Pikachu's makeshift pack of food. After a moment, he raised his head straight into the air and cried "HUMAN FOOD!". It was like a race's starting gun, or a call to arms. The effect was immediate, and quite frankly, somewhat horrifying. Dozens of hungry mouths surged forwards, yanking the pack away from Pikachu in a mess of screams and cries of "I was here first!" and "Get your own!" and of course, plenty of things far ruder than that.

When it was all over, Pikachu and Spearow were left lying there on the ground, mostly unharmed, but so surprised and unprepared that they had nearly peed themselves. But hardly anyone got the chance to actually eat, because they immediately stopped the moment they heard a loud, low grunting noise from somewhere off further west along the route. Everyone just lowered their tails and ears and backed away a bit from the direction it came from. Even the Pokémon who had been beat up in the struggle picked themselves up to the best of their ability to join them. Pikachu and Spearow simply looked on in confusion, not understanding what could cause such a sharp shift in behavior.

The noise repeated multiple times, and got louder and closer each time. A chorus of smaller grunts and shouts could also be heard after each of the main grunts. But when the grunts finally came incredibly close, it seemed to be only a somewhat sizable group of Mankey. Sure, Mankey were a little scary, but they were really more of an angry earful than anything, so that didn't really justify why everyone had immediately become still and submissive.

At least until the REAL cause became apparent. A great, mighty looking sort of Pokémon, similar to the Mankey but far larger, with hard metal shackles on his wrists and ankles.

Hushed, tense, fearful whispers of "It's Lord Primeape.." spreading throughout the small crowd, and they easily said it all.

He was somewhat taller than a normal Primeape, but the real story was his incredible girth. His limbs were nearly thrice as thick as those of a normal Primeape, and it wasn't all muscle. Instead of being angular and tense, they were soft, puffy, and flabby, and the fat folded at the joints. The fur beneath his mouth was stained a dirty, rusty brown of both blood and berries, and even with all the fur, he was much wider and rounder than a normal Primeape had any right to be. A massive gut was still discernible beneath the fur as well, both jutting out intimidatingly and covering part of his thighs. Before he even said anything, every Mankey in the crowd immediately gave up whatever food they had managed to grab, placing it before him hastily and then timidly dashing back into the crowd.

"I hear talk of food around here! Human food! You mean to tell me that after all the time I've fought for you and protected you, you selfish lot aren't giving me the fair share?! Is that it?!" the Primeape bellowed, his voice an angry, husky baritone.

"N-no, Lord…" the crowd weakly answered.

"What?! That answer is weak! Far too weak! Scream! Grovel! Or do you want to pay in BLOOD again?!" the Primeape screamed. At this point, Pikachu was starting to get fed up, intimidation tactics or not.

"NO, OUR LORD!" the crowd shouted, as everyone brought their food forward at once. Afterwards, the Mankey who had arrived with Lord Primeape went through, sniffing and expecting everyone. The whole crowd held their breath, while Pikachu watched with leery, disgusted eyes, and it took a great deal of control to not shock the Mankey who came to inspect him right then and there. Everything seemed to go smoothly, at least until a shriek came from a nearby patch of dense vegetation, and a Mankey came out dragging a female Nidoran towards Lord Primeape, while she cursed and struggled the entire time. For all the trouble and struggle, she was only holding onto a single cookie. Everyone simply stared in silent mortification, until one could bear it no longer.

That one was a Nidorina, who briefly rose on her hind legs and screamed "No, not my daughter! Not my daughter! Please!".

"Fine then, you wretched traitor! If you're so determined to go against my command, you'll pay for your treachery first! Consider yourself lucky I won't make you watch her demise!" Lord Primeape bellowed, as his Mankey quickly ran over and surrounded her, then dragged her towards him.

"I don't like this, mister...I don't like this one bit…" Spearow whispered to Pikachu, her eyes seething with concealed rage "What do we do?!" she quietly hissed.

"...He's big, but he's slow… and he probably isn't used to a serious attempt to fight back… Fly in and distract him. Hit and run, don't get caught. I'll see what I can do from there." Pikachu instructed as calmly as possible. Spearow nodded and took flight, just as the Mankey stopped and held the Nidorina in front of Lord Primeape's massive body.

Pikachu actually had to recoil a little before he could do anything himself. Spearow had aimed right for one of Lord Primeape's eyes, and gotten a very accurate stab in with her beak. As he howled in agony and the crowd gasped, she quickly darted upwards before he could smack a frantic hand over his wounded eye. But seeing that this was a perfect opportunity, Pikachu leapt into action, as did the female Nidoran. She skillfully used Double Kick on a stunned Mankey, whose grip on her mother had slackened considerably. Meanwhile, Pikachu moved about in a flurry of Quick Attacks and Thunder Waves, slamming into and paralyzing the Mankey one by one, and finishing with Lord Primeape himself.

"Get them! Get the damn heretics!" Lord Primeape said, now on his knees as he continued to clutch his eye. But not a soul helped, they simply backed away a bit further and stared slack-jawed at the incredible spectacle. Even the Nidorina took advantage of the situation, biting and kicking and jabbing at every Mankey around her. Meanwhile, the Mankey who were originally in the crowd and had given their food up first looked especially transfixed, holding their breath and staring with wide eyes.

From there, it wasn't much of a fight, at least against the Mankey with Lord Primeape. None of them were particularly fast anymore, and their organization fell apart, so they had no good defense against Spearow's beak and talons, the poison and claws of Nidoran and Nidorina, or Pikachu's angry lightning bolts.

"Why?! Why is this happening?! I'm your lord, your leader! I have done nothing but sacrifice! This is disgraceful! Strange bird, strange mouse, may you be damned to your very cores! I'll see to it!" Lord Primeape yelled in absolute fury, as he steadily willed himself to his feet. His good eye narrowed and his fur bristled, and his limbs became thicker still. He bellowed in pure rage and stomped the ground, leaving a deep footprint. "I'm Lord Primeape, damnit! I'll crush you! I'll skin you alive! I'll-"

"Aw, breezes and blusters!" Spearow shouted, as she swooped down and pecked out his other eye before he could react. "If you gonna do it, keep the wind in your mouth and do it!" she cried, as Lord Primeape bellowed in a mixture of rage and pain, now completely blind thanks to his speech.

Everyone cleared out of the area as Lord Primeape went on a blind, sluggish, yet immensely powerful rampage, leaving imprints in the ground and knocking aside shrubs and small trees as if they had no roots. Pikachu kept his distance, shocking the abominable primate repeatedly. Finally, his sheer rage could force his body past the electricity and fatigue no longer, and all of his muscles locked up at once.

Immediately climbing on the middle of the massive back with a Quick Attack, Pikachu chuckled darkly, knowing that Lord Primeape was too fat to reach the area even if he didn't have severely limited mobility due to paralysis. Moving aside the fur and climbing up to the approximate neck area, Pikachu dug his teeth in deep, causing Lord Primeape to cry out in immense pain. Now that he was past the skin, fur, and blubber, drawing blood from a deep wound, Pikachu knew he'd made his job much easier.

Without any words, Pikachu bit down on the wound once more and unleashed all the electricity he could handle. Lord Primeape violently spasmed, and then fell to the ground, motionless. Pikachu stared at him for a moment, his anger steadily receding. The massive, bloated body and the two bleeding eyes now looked almost pitiful, without all of that anger and hatred behind them. Perhaps he and Spearow had gone too far. But then again, this was something orders above prison-spheres, higher than the simple annoyance of an old man or an ignorant human child.

Rather than pure elation or a feeling of incredible accomplishment, Pikachu mostly just felt humbled and sobered by the sight. With this kind of Pokémon ruling them, with this kind of social structure, the metal sphere of a well meaning child would be like heaven to anyone on Route 22.

Pikachu already knew that not everyone hated the idea of capture, and after that day, it was no wonder why.

After all, some already knew worse.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Lionhearted Mouse**  
**Ch 3**

* * *

As everyone steadily came back to see the hulking mass that was Lord Primeape's body, many whispers and questions began to filter through the crowd. Everyone looked on in utter fascination and wonder, all of them shifting about to get a better look at the body. They were hardly able to believe their ruler had truly fallen.

A Spearow, a young adult male, perched on top of his body, hopping about and inspecting every inch of him.

"He ain't dead yet!" the male Spearow cried out in disappointment. Pikachu found the collective response of disappointment and even disgust a little funny, but at the same time, he was taken aback.

"I don't want him dead!" Pikachu cried out in shock. "We just wanted to teach him a lesson!"

"Shoot, mister, I don't know what you're going on about. I ain't blinding no one if I just want a lesson taught." Pikachu's companion Spearow answered.

"Kid!" Pikachu gasped, as he took a step back in astonishment

"Hmph. I don't know what cotton grass, candy clouds kind of place you came from, mister, but this here is the wilderness. This the nest he made himself, mister." Spearow said indignantly.

"But...we...we don't have to kill him, do we? He's injured enough as it is, and if we just leave now and let them sort out an appropriate punishment-"

"What? So he can just get better and keep doing this to folks?! Dang, mister, I thought you was smart! Your heart's big, and your words is pretty, but they both soft! As a predator, and as a bird whose momma taught her some sense, I say we bleed him out and eat him right here!"

"K-kid…" Pikachu stammered, as several other Spearow in the crowd gave squawks of gleeful agreement on the prospect of eating Lord Primeape.

"Hmph. This journey of yours is about proving that we're strong, and we don't need no one telling us what to do or bossing us, ain't it mister? Ain't it?"

"Well, yes, but this is different…If we kill him…"

"What, we'll be just like him? Shoot mister, he blind now! He bleeding from the back of his fat neck, full of hurting! He ain't even in the place to be carrying on! He been eating folks for the silliest things for likely the longest, scaring them and bossing them until he ain't no fair predator no more. He's as good as carcass. And if you don't eat carcass, you just letting the sick spread around!" Spearow shouted, as even more of the crowd began to throw in little grunts and words of agreement.

"Enough! I'm the leader of this team, and I say we don't kill him! I say no one eats him! I say he deserves punishment, but not death!" Pikachu cried, although his voice was full of hesitation and desperation more than actual forcefulness or authority.

"That's a shame, mister. Heart as big as the sky, brain littler than a worm. It's real nice to look at the world in a pretty sort of way like that, but after all your caution talk about what humans might do to us, I thought you'd get it." Spearow sighed deeply, squawked loudly when Pikachu looked like he was about to talk, then continued. "I ain't following you just 'cause you the leader of something. I don't care about that. I'm doin' it cause I believe in us being our own folks, and you been real nice to me. You already done taught me and helped me so much, and I got a lot of respect for all that, don't get me wrong." She then became more harsh and forceful in tone.

"But for me, this about more than humans! This about respect! This about being my own bird! Them Murkrow? Sure, they might of helped, but that's only cause they scared of you and your sparks! Them brainless, two-faced maggots wanted us dead at first! When I get strong enough, I'm flying back quicker than winds, and I'm kicking 'em all out! I don't care what happens to 'em after that! Ain't no good in making a flock bird need to walk around all lost and alone with a bad wing!"

"I- I get it kid… I get it." Pikachu said sadly. "I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you. I know it's been painful, even though you're so young. But can you really be okay with all of those big decisions? Your whole life is ahead of you, and you've hardly experienced-"

"I've been through ENOUGH!" Spearow shrieked, as she huffily went over to Lord Primeape's body and jumped up on top.

"We...we can still talk about this, kid…" Pikachu said, internally pleading her not to do what he knew what was coming

"Aw, who do you think you are, mister, calling me a kid even now?! I'm out of my nest, my momma done taught me plenty! You ain't nothing but a bigger kid yourself! This one I'm sitting on ain't no predator, he's just a murderer! Good as carcass, already dead to me, and already dead to all these folk! If your heart is as soft as you think it is, you'll let these folk decide for themselves, and not try to force your mind on 'em just cause you fancy yourself the hero!" Spearow screamed.

Pikachu shrank back in silence. Looking back to the crowd, he saw that just about everyone did indeed agree with Spearow. With the one he had helped, thinking she was only a kid. Thinking he could mold her, not knowing she'd already been sort of molded, and sort of warped in the process. He didn't really like it, but he had to respect it. After all, he did understand, and she had a point. He may have been a great help, but he had no right to step in and decide something like this for everyone on Route 22. Deep down, as much as he didn't want it to be true, he knew there wasn't really any good in keeping Primeape alive.

So he just turned away as the other Spearow all joined his companion in steadily cutting open the Primeape's throat and watching him bleed out with baited breath, watching the bit of life he had left drain away with only the sort of sadistic glee that hungry, predatory, downtrodden eyes could hold. When they saw no more breath, and only stillness, they all found his most tender area and took away as much flesh as their beaks could fit, ripping and swallowing it in contentment. Even Nidoran, Nidorino, and Nidorina joined in, tearing and nibbling at the flesh. Others took to the pile of food, which was largely unharmed besides being a bit scattered and sloppy, which didn't matter at all to a wild Pokémon. As the Mankey who had served him woke up and weakly stumbled about, they barely gave more than a few experimental pokes at his body before going to get themselves some food, not angry in the slightest.

After a short while, his companion fluttered over and perched next to him, looking gentler and calmer now, having taken care to preen and wipe away any stray blood before speaking to him.

"Come on now, mister. The blue skies know that that Primeape's got a real good taste for someone so nasty, but I know you don't like this. If you decide you just wanna leave me here and do things yourself, I ain't mad at you."

"...You didn't do anything wrong, really. I'm just not a killing type, even if they really might deserve it... But I suppose this IS what I was getting myself into. If I really want a world of respect and equality, it can't be all about how I think." Pikachu said quietly. "And after all, you stood up to me. You stood up to me, even though I'm an electric type. Even though you saw what I did to those Murkrow, and what I did to Primeape. If a difference is going to be made, I can't pass up spunk like that." Pikachu said, as he managed to smile.

"Well, I'm glad for that. I gotta admit I done got used to you, mister. Wouldn't be right to split up so soon, would it?" Spearow asked.

"Not at all." Pikachu agreed happily. "We've still got badges to get!"

"Wait!" a voice cried. As Pikachu and Spearow turned around, they saw that the female Nidoran who had tried to escape earlier was running towards them. "Did you guys say badges? You have a Trainer?" Nidoran asked in curiosity, as she swiveled her ears around and sniffed the air. "There are no humans around here, so why are you talking about badges?" she asked in confusion.

"That was the whole reason we were offering free food. We were trying to recruit people into our group, since we're on a mission to beat the Pokémon League without a human and make them see that we deserve more respect than we get… It really got out of hand though…" Pikachu said regretfully.

"Yeah, sorry we're not the refined sort, but I think we know enough. You two are really something, huh?! I can't believe you stopped Primeape! ...He started out a stand-up guy, honestly. He looked out for everyone. I was only a little girl, but I still remember. He'd protect us if we didn't want to be caught or bothered, he'd sort out fights for us, and he'd settle territory for us… But then he started getting different on us. He got lazier, and hungrier, and he just started to do whatever he wanted. We could accept that. He was still a big strong leader, but we did start to complain to him. He...overreacted, to put it nice. That's when he got those Mankey around him, and it only got worse for us. He was just a big, greedy sort of guy who didn't really hurt or help much before then, but that was when he got the idea we were ungrateful, and he was all high and mighty. That's why you saw what you saw." Nidoran explained apologetically.

"Oh...Well, that explains some things." Pikachu replied.

"Hmph! All these folks think they can push some other folks down when they got them some numbers!" Spearow cried. "If we really fancy ourselfs doing something nice, we gotta make sure this never gonna happen again! A predator is one kind, a monster is another! This gotta get to be the place where if anyone try to get all uppity and evil on you, you rip 'em down to the bones before they got the chance!"

"You mean...like democracy?" Pikachu asked.

"A demma-what? There you go again, the fancy sorta words! Naw, I'm talking the sorta place where everyone got a say, and everyone get along and know they place! Where ain't no one tryin' to be bigger than the other folks outta greed!"

"That's what that is. Rules are aimed at making sure no one becomes too powerful, and-"

"Rules?! Aw mister, now that idea is just some mess! The only rule there ever should be is that folks need to act like their mommas done taught 'em. You gotta have the respect, and the common sense, and throw out the other mess. If you don't think it's no good idea, that's cause it ain't, or you ain't learned! This is wilderness! What kinda rules they even gonna make? The soft talk kinda rules you got? What, don't eat a grown baby you got nice and fair cause you gonna hurt the family? Hmph! Babies is the tastiest, all the folks know that! Family ain't feeding it no more, family ain't watching! Predators got rights to that baby! If the baby hears 'em calling and coming, and had all the chance to save its tender hide, that's a fair hunt right there! But it hurts people's feelings, so that's the first thing they gonna get rid of, 'specially if they as soft as you can get." Spearow harshly criticized.

Pikachu looked somewhat horrified by Spearow's tirade, while Nidoran's eyes were shimmering with approval and awe. "I like you!" Nidoran cried enthusiastically, playfully bumping against Spearow. "Dang, I might come along just 'cause of you!" Nidoran beamed, causing Spearow to hide her face under one of her wings.

"Aw, shucks, I ain't nothing all that nice to leave home about." Spearow muttered. Pikachu found it odd and almost disturbing that someone who was just proudly talking about their right to hunt babies while considering them 'the tastiest' could be embarrassed about anything.

"Either way, what you're doing sounds mighty exciting. I've had a few trainers myself. It's pretty fun, in a certain kind of way, 'cause you get to mess with their heads. You know, act all nice and friendly, get up under their skin, eat their food...then choose a day, wake up before they do, break the ball, and leave! It's a riot! Gives them the idea they actually got some kind of hold on you, then puts them in their place." Nidoran said, chuckling to herself. "Especially 'cause I'm not like a lot of other Nidoran, y'know."

"How's that?" Pikachu asked.

"I'm a good ways stronger than most of them. Sometimes I'm a little sloppy, but when I do hit I really do a number. Humans say it's because of this thing called Hustle or something. One guy wanted to sell me off somewhere, but I wasn't having none of that! Thought he had scored himself something, but I showed him!" Nidoran excitedly bragged. Pikachu was as impressed as he needed to be, and Spearow was as flattered as she needed to be, so Nidoran was readily welcomed into the group. They starting biding their time and waiting for nightfall, as Pikachu had planned, battling, training, and conversing with others. Usually the Mankey, who were thrilled to help with anything of the violent or physical sort. Pokémon who didn't have much else to do even gathered around the matches to watch, betting food and favors on the outcomes in lieu of money. Spearow even got to got to go back and get more of Lord Primeape's carcass, and Pikachu tried not to picture it in his head as she excitedly flew off. But just as it was getting to be late evening, and the sky was steadily darkening, many Pokémon in the area caught the scent of a human and became flighty and nervous, scattering off in all directions. Pikachu's group hid warily in a nearby bush, sizing the human up. Maybe they could start a battle, since there was no such thing as too much money.

"Do you sense any trace of Pikachu, Squirtle? The people in town said that rodent friend of yours went off this way…" a boy with wild, spiky brown hair asked the small blue turtle walking alongside him. Squirtle shook his head in disappointment and continued to look and sniff about as he walked, irritating the boy. "Jeez, what kind of starter Pokémon just up and runs away, anyway? ...But then again…" the boy started, breaking out in a large grin. "It IS Ash we're talking about. I can hardly blame that Pikachu! If I were a Pokémon, I wouldn't let Ash train me in a million years!" he cried, giggling to himself. "Still...won't it be awesome when we catch him and give him back to Ash?" Realizing what he said after a moment, the boy backpedaled and hastily added on "N-not just to be nice! It's just that, you know Squirtle, think of how much he'd owe us! He'd pretty much have to be our slave after that! He could come with us on our journey and do all the stuff I'm too cool for, since he'd never be competent enough to go by himself anyway." the boy continued, punctuating it with a loud laugh. "Plus, Gramps didn't let me have a shiny red convertible and cheerleaders like I wanted...I guess even he has limits…" the boy added with a dejected sigh. "And...since you can't tell anyone anyway, Squirtle, ...I guess it does kinda suck to think about Ash being all mopey and holed up at home. Especially because of something that had nothing to do with me...Even then, I wouldn't make him into a total mopey buzzkill like he was before we left." the boy said in a quieter, more modest voice. "But as far as anyone else is concerned, I'm only doing this because Gramps made me! ...Even though he said I can stop now..." the boy told Squirtle, who just shrugged and smiled.

While the boy was rambling, they had in fact nearly walked past Pikachu's hiding place, until Squirtle took an especially deep sniff and turned around suspiciously. Red eyes intently focused on the bush Pikachu was in, Squirtle let loose with a mighty blast of water, flushing Pikachu's group out with ease. Pikachu immediately retaliated with a blast of electricity, but the boy had anticipated it, knowing that Pikachu would feel less threatened by a Water-type. Quickly returning Squirtle, the boy sent out a Sandshrew with a smug grin. Maybe he couldn't live out his admittedly ridiculous dream of a red convertible, but Gramps could still order in all kinds of Pokémon!

"Shit." Pikachu muttered to himself, since even with little formal knowledge, it was quite obvious that Sandshrew was a Ground-type. "Spearow! That's a ground type! Nidoran and I aren't much good here, so do your best!" Pikachu ordered.

"Right! I'll take care of her!" Spearow cried, as she sprang up from the ground and darted towards the Sandshrew.

"Defense Curl!" the boy quickly ordered. Sandshrew rapidly curled into a ball and tensed up, causing Spearow to bounce off rather harmlessly. "I think it's defending Pikachu, Sandshrew! Make it quick so you still have the energy for him! Rollout!" the boy cried, as Sandshrew quickly began rolling forward, rapidly collecting speed all the while. Once she had been rolling in circles for a couple of seconds in what seemed like a hopeless endeavor with Spearow being airborne, she slammed her tail against the ground at just the right moment, propelling herself into the air and managing to nick Spearow, sending the small bird spiraling as Sandshrew skillfully landed and began to build up even more speed and power. Fearing for her fragile framed friend, Nidoran leapt into the fray, managing to check Sandshrew with a very strong Tackle, at the cost of being sent flying backwards.

"Two against one, huh?" the boy noted, scowling. "Well fine then! Sandshrew, Swift, shoot it really far! Then Rollout again!" he cried. The little pangolin dutifully fired a barrage of stars high into the air, much to the confusion of the others.

"What good are they up there?!" Nidoran wondered aloud as Sandshrew began building up rolling speed again. Between dodging Sandshrew's sharp turns, there wasn't much time to think hard about it, until Pikachu, who wasn't battling, noticed what the stars were doing after they achieved a certain height.

"They're coming back! They're coming back!" Pikachu frantically cried, as he aimed Thundershocks at them and managed to take out a few, although they still posed a significant threat. Due to their nature, they couldn't be avoided forever, no matter how hard Spearow and Nidoran tried to evade. So Spearow unceremoniously crashed to the ground, due to a star managing to pierce one of her wings. With Nidoran preoccupied, there was nothing to stop Sandshrew from scoring a direct hit on the little bird, rendering her unconscious.

Pikachu gasped, and Nidoran charged Sandshrew with thoughtless rage, even as she was pelted with the remaining stars. Unlike before, she managed to hit from the side, knocking Sandshrew out of her rolling frenzy. the boy ordered a Scratch, and with another charge from Nidoran, the two Pokémon were locked together, Sandshrew's claws hooked into Nidoran's hide, and Nidoran's barbs piercing deep into Sandshrew's exposed belly and torso, pumping in poison. Screaming out in pain, Sandshrew collapsed, already beginning to shiver and breathe heavily.

Nidoran gave a cry of exhausted triumph as the boy scowled, not wanting to put Squirtle through what would most likely be a defeat. "Well you had your friends backing you up this time, Pikachu, so you're smarter than I thought! But I've seen how you operate now! I'll see you again,and it'll be different next time, I swear!" the boy said, as he returned Sandshrew then turned to leave before being stopped by Pikachu tugging on his pants leg. the boy turned around in confusion, and looked down to see Pikachu with a crumpled bill in hand, waving it about and looking up at the boy expectantly. the boy could only stare blankly before it clicked. "You want me to pay you?! What are you, a Trainer?!" the boy shouted incredulously. He was even more surprised when Pikachu shrugged and then held up a paw and tilted it back and forth while imitating an uncertain 'ehhh' sound. "...Weirdo." the boy grumbled, fumbling about for a few bills and some coins and handing them to Pikachu, who carefully removed the money sack from Spearow's neck and put them inside, then put the sack on himself. With the boy watching in utter bewilderment, Pikachu waved briefly before placing Spearow on his back and quickly, albeit awkwardly, waddling away with Nidoran by his side.

As the boy made his way to a Pokémon Center, Squirtle got an earful of him grumbling and griping along the lines of "who's that Pikachu think it is?" and "why the hell does it want money anyway?" and "no one fucking told me it's got sidekicks", all while feeling rather impressed and intrigued in an odd sort of way.

* * *

**Sorry, no points for guessing who the boy is, it's hardly even a mystery.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this chapter took a long time, it introduces Team Rocket and I wasn't actually sure whether or not I want Team Rocket in this story. Plus, you know, laziness. But they /are/ important characters for the animeverse, and pretty interesting characters in themselves if they weren't constantly (and sometimes pointlessly) forced into episodes. **

**So yeah, here goes.**

**A Lionhearted Mouse**

**Ch 4**

* * *

By time Spearow fully recovered from the group's encounter with the brown haired boy, it was about nightfall. Not wanting to waste time, Pikachu had the group leap into action and start quietly exploring Viridian City for more information about gyms. There was hardly anyone outside, even though it had only just become dark, but Pikachu didn't think much of it. At least it made it easier to sneak next to houses and buildings and glean bits of conversation from outside. It was slow and frustrating work, even with all three group members split up, but they quickly learned through trial and error that it wasn't very productive to listen in on residential areas. Soon after turning their focus to businesses and buildings that seemed more Pokémon related, they found out that Viridian City did at least have a Gym. Unfortunately, it was locked up tight, and not a soul was inside. Although he groaned in frustration and complained about the humans having a faulty system, Pikachu didn't give up.

Pikachu knew that hanging around the Pokémon Center was a much higher risk, but at the same time, the easiest way to hear things actually related to the Pokémon League. So, hiding in the dumpster it was. Being a Pokémon, and sitting on a relatively clean garbage bag, he didn't feel terribly disgusted. Nonetheless, it was rather smelly and uncomfortable, so he didn't have Spearow or Nidoran come in with him. Instead, Nidoran was at a nearby PokeMart, and Spearow was in the Pokémon Center's window without her money sack. Pikachu had it instead, since she'd just look like a regular Spearow that way. Pikachu sat in the garbage for about fifteen minutes, but didn't hear anything important. Growing impatient, and tired of the stench, Pikachu decided to leave the dumpster and try something else. Unfortunately, that didn't go quite as smoothly as he planned.

When Pikachu got out, he saw a hot air balloon in the shape of a Meowth's head ominously floating towards the Pokémon Center. He definitely didn't know everything about humans, but something told him it was far from good or normal. Especially when it began to steadily lower towards the roof of the Pokémon Center. With a loud blasting noise, and a couple of human screams and gasps, Pikachu's suspicions were confirmed. He reflexively bolted upon hearing the massive noise, and crossed the street in a hurried panic. Once he felt he was at a safe distance, he turned to see what would happen next.

"What in the name of blue skies is happening, mister?!" Spearow called, as she fluttered down from her perch to talk to Pikachu.

"No idea, honestly… I don't think it's a good thing though." Pikachu told her, as he looked worriedly towards the Pokémon Center. Nidoran came running towards the two as they watched in confusion, eyes wide with shock.

"Great, you guys are okay! Damn, what's happening here?" Nidoran asked, as she also turned to cautiously watch the Pokémon Center.

"Some humans blew a hole right through the roof!" Pikachu excitedly told her.

"Shouldn't we just gone ahead and scram? I don't think this is none of our worry." Spearow suggested. "We go in there, they could blast us like they blasted that roof!"

"...I think we better see what's happening." Nidoran suggested hesitantly.

"What good does that do us?!" Spearow cried.

"Humans may have some problems and do annoying things, but they ain't all bad...Besides, this is where Pokémon are healed. The building could have a bunch of weak, vulnerable Pokémon, and something bad could happen to them!" Nidoran cried.

"Plus, we could get positive recognition for this, which we really need if we want the journey as a whole to go more smoothly." Pikachu added in, as he began to carefully move towards the Pokémon Center. "Come on, let's go."

"...I guess that makes sense." Spearow replied, as she begrudgingly followed after Pikachu.

When they got there, what they saw was far from the unspeakable, horrifying, completely serious act of terrorism and cruelty they had expected. More like a blue-haired man and a woman with long, red hair in a shouting match with a very irate yet familiar boy with spiky brown hair. The boy and the woman were doing most of the shouting. A beige and brown cat Pokémon stood between them on his hind legs, apparently trying to tell them to calm down…. In… Human language?! Meanwhile, a long, purple snake Pokémon and a lumpy purple sphere of a Pokémon were positioned in front of the two older humans with exasperated expressions, seemingly wondering when the battle would actually begin. A familiar Squirtle standing next to the boy simply looked around the room with a somewhat bored expression, as if it were already used to such things

"Hey Pikachu! Sorry my Trainer tried to catch you earlier! You know how those things are." Squirtle said contentedly, as if what was happening around him was of little concern.

"Nevermind that, what's happening here?!" Pikachu cried. From his stay at Professor Oak's lab, Pikachu already knew how Squirtle was calm and accepting to an almost unsettling degree, but that sort of reaction still seemed a bit ridiculous.

"I dunno, dude." Squirtle said. "Me and Gary-" Squirtle started, pointing towards the brown haired boy "came here to heal Sandshrew, they said it'd take a little while to sort the poison out, so we left, came back, then these weirdos bust through the roof, with the funny-human-talkin' cat. I dunno. Easier not to think so hard about this stuff. I'm guessin' I'm gonna battle those guys in a sec, so I'm just waitin' around."

"Don't you think you could at least be a little more worried about this?" Nidoran cried incredulously. By now, the boy and the red haired woman had stopped their arguing to look at the new arrivals with surprise and confusion, and no one ever got around to answering Nidoran.

"You again?!" Gary cried, taking note of the all too familiar trio of Pokémon.

"...What's with the random extra Pokémon?" the blue haired man asked no one in particular.

"Whatever, we can stop wasting time and steal them too!" the redheaded woman cried happily. "James, you know what to do!"

"Right! Koffing, Smog!" James commanded, causing the floating purple orb of a Pokémon to let loose a thick, disgusting gas from the many holes on his body. Although it quickly filled the room, Spearow retaliated by rapidly flapping her wings, creating a strong enough wind to keep it from getting too severe.

"Squirtle, hold your breath and run through!" Gary's command almost immediately broke Squirtle out of his impossibly calm demeanor, and he went dashing forward with surprising speed.

"Dat toitle can run! Who woulda thought?!" the cat Pokémon cried with a Brooklyn accent, Jessie's Ekans leapt forward to meet Squirtle, tightly wrapping around and toppling the small turtle, who quickly slid into his shell. Undaunted, Ekans opened her mouth wide and shot a barrage of Poison Sting needles into the hole for Squirtle's head.a She was met with a cry of pain and a furious jet of water, forceful enough to let Squirtle wriggle free.

"Not now, Meowth! Go find the Pokéballs!" Jessie growled. "Ekans, another Poison Sting!" she demanded, as Squirtle retreated into his shell and fired off another blast of water.

"Right!" Meowth cried, as he ran off into a room towards the back of the the building...Or at least tried to. A Chansey threw the door wide open just before he reached it, looking at him with a murderous glare and towering over him. "Uh..guys…" Meowth said helplessly, as the Chansey proceeded to powerfully grab him by the wrist and slap him senseless.

"Useless cat." Jessie muttered with a scowl, as Meowth's cries of frantic apology to the Chansey began to fill the room. "James, back me up here!" Jessie barked.

"Okay! Koffing, after that Squirtle!" James commanded. Koffing quickly floated towards Squirtle and fired off a noxious blast of gas, which his shell couldn't protect him from.

"Dudes!" Squirtle cried to Pikachu's trio, coughing and watery-eyed as Ekans wrapped around him again. In a flash, Spearow was there, furiously punching through the snake's scaly hide with her beak.

"You wanna get eaten, you little ssshit?!" Ekans glowered, after quickly retaliating with a Poison Sting, only to cry out in pain as Nidoran ran up behind her and bit even further into one of the tender beak-inflicted wounds, loosening the snake's grip enough to easily throw her off of Squirtle. Koffing's effort to help Ekans was thwarted by a blast of electricity from Pikachu, who then pushed his lightweight body into the ceiling with a Quick Attack from beneath him. As Ekans was pecked into submission by Spearow, Koffing was knocked unconscious by another Thundershock, and a jet of water from Squirtle.

"That's not fair! That's four Pokémon against two! That wasn't the plan at all!" James whined.

"Whatever, Squirtle and I would've totally destroyed you by ourselves anyway." Gary sneered, voice full of condescension.

"Yeah, whatever, you rotten little twerp. Come on James, before we manage to get ourselves blasted through the ceiling or something stupid like that..." Jessie grumbled in frustration, returning Ekans. James followed suit with Koffing, while Jessie quickly roused Meowth, who was now passed out on the floor.

"Wait!" Gary cried. "You're crooks! You can't just-" The criminal trio was already attempting to escape before he could even finish his sentence, but luckily, there was no human quicker than an alert Pikachu. With incredible speed, Pikachu blocked the exit, sparking menacingly.

"What in the world does this wild Pokémon want with us now?!" Jessie shouted impatiently, wanting nothing more than to escape, although she did adopt a more submissive posture in response to the threat of electrocution.

"That cat! The Meowth spoke human!" Pikachu cried.

"Yeah, so what if I do?" Meowth snapped crossly, still smarting from the merciless slapping. Jessie and James just stared down at the small mouse in confusion, having heard nothing but standard Pikachu sounds.

"Why? Why did you learn? And why learn if all you end up doing is helping those humans steal Pokémon?!" Pikachu said, sparking menacingly. "It doesn't make any sense! You're one of us! You have so much potential, but you're nothing but a crook!" Pikachu snarled.

"Potential?... Dat's a funny thing for you ta say, Pikachu. Who's got more potential dan Team Rocket? One of dese days, we're gonna be runnin' dis whole region, if not da whole world!" Meowth said, with a confident smirk.

"Team Rocket?" Pikachu questioned, tilting his head slightly.

"They had a whole motto and everything, dude. You should've seen how corny it was!" Squirtle interjected.

"No one asked you!" Meowth shouted back at him.

"You didn't answer the question from before!" Pikachu growled, sparking even more. "You learned to do something almost none of us can, and all you're doing is using it against us! You should be ashamed of yourself! Disgusted!" Pikachu cried.

"Oh, and what happens if I DO help ya, huh?!" Meowth crossly shot back "Where the heck were ya all when /I/ needed it? Let's face it. Most wild Pokémon ain't nothin' but selfish savages when it gets right down to it, yet you call ME shameful! In dis world, it's all about bein' top cat!" Meowth shot back with deep bitterness, even slipping into hisses and yowls rather than English towards the end.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW?!" Pikachu screamed, taking personal offense to such a bold statement. The lights and electrical displays of the Pokémon Center flickered erratically as his body surged with vicious electricity. Everyone in the Pokémon Center shrank back an appreciable distance, but then Meowth regained his composure and continued to speak.

"Whatcha gonna do, Sparky? Shock me until I'm seein' stars? Prove my point some more?" Meowth drawled, flashing a sharp-toothed smile.

"I'm not being savage, YOU'RE being an offensive pile of shit! Don't act like you're so much better!" Pikachu snarled, firing off a jolt of weak but still painful electricity on Meowth as a warning. Meowth cried out in pain and surprise as Pikachu leapt on top of him, looking him straight in the eyes. "No one feels sorry for you because the way you are now, as selfish as you are, why should they? Just admit it. You went wrong somewhere." Pikachu said coldly.

"If anything, it's da rest of da world dat went wrong on me!" Meowth shouted back.

"And you think you're the only one?" Pikachu answered, his voice becoming a bit softer than Meowth expected. "Really?"

"What are ya even gettin' at here, Sparky?" Meowth asked, squirming impatiently beneath Pikachu's weight.

"You could change. You could help us. If you were smart enough to learn human, who knows what else you could accomplish?" Pikachu explained, getting off of Meowth and speaking much more calmly.

"I just need Jessie, James, and Team Rocket, dat's all. I don't see da value in your offer." Meowth said dismissively.

"What's the value of what you do now? Being a criminal? Having everyone but two humans hate you? Is that it?" Pikachu asked. "What about actual respect? What about doing something that doesn't make everyone afraid of you?"

"Meowth, are you really still talking to this idiotic rat?! Let's just get out of here!" Jessie cried.

"Wait!" Meowth hastily answered. Combined with the threatening glare Jessie got from Pikachu, she was convinced it was a solid idea.

"I'm not just any wild Pokémon anymore. My friends and I are going to win the Pokémon League, without any Trainer, and we're going to show every human the true value of a Pokémon!" Pikachu continued, smiling boldly.

"Pokémon League? By yaself?! Ya gotta be kiddin' me! Dat's impossible!" Meowth cried. Jessie, James, and Gary all looked equally surprised.

"It...he actually told you that?!" Gary cried, unable to believe his ears. A talking Pokémon, and a Pokémon with such an odd goal it was trying to achieve without a Trainer...

"Definitely! I ain't deaf, ya little twoip!" Meowth turned around and shot back at him, causing Gary to flinch a bit, unused to being yelled at by a small cat, of all things. Not only could Meowth talk, he could clearly hold conversation with as much ease and meaning as a human...Gramps would be amazed.

"We've been thinking it's not even worth trying all this time, so I say it's time for a change! You could help us, Meowth. You could be a hero among Pokémon! Humans everywhere would recognize you! You could change history!" Pikachu said with so much courage and optimism that Meowth's pupils began to dilate with fascination.

"...Ya...ya really think I could help? I don't gotta be a circus freak, or nothin' to just point at? People would really...take me seriously?" Meowth said quietly, thoughtfully, as he began to lose himself within his fanciful imagination.

"Of course! It'd be revolutionary! We'd get all the respect we've been missing out on, all the respect we deserved all along!" Pikachu cried.

"I'll… I'll do it!" Meowth cried, clenching a paw with conviction.

"You'll what?!" Jessie and James shouted at the same time. "What about us? What about Team Rocket?!"

"I think we all know Team Rocket wasn't always a part of ya five year plan! Besides, its not like I have ta leave you guys... It's a real longshot, but maybe we could do pretty well for ourselves, puttin' ourselves to some honest use for once…"

"What about the boss?!" they asked, their voices fearful and incredulous

"Yeah, whadda 'bout him?" Meowth grumbled sorely, causing Jessie and James to immediately look at eachother with regretful expressions. "He replaced me with a Persian...and I was never nothin' but the errand cat nohow. Ya really think I can get by on nothin' but da honor of da spot alone? Always pretendin' I'm really happy with dat? You guys know dang well we're hardly gettin' anywhere! Everyone thinks we're a joke anyhow! I bet we could see a powerful Pokémon right now, and rather than actually managin' ta catch it, we'd spend years just tryin' ta chase it down! Heck, maybe even across different regions too!" Meowth spat.

"He's got a point…" James started thoughtfully.

"Oh, please! We're really gonna side with some stupid little rat on what we're gonna do from now on?! That's rich!" Jessie argued, crossing her arms firmly.

"Well, it is rash...And his head might just be in the clouds...But ya know, Pikachu, I'll tell ya what." Meowth started, as he turned toward Pikachu. "We'll keep an eye out for ya, got it? And if you win just one measly badge, to show me you don't got more hot air in ya than our balloon, I guess I'm on board!" Meowth said happily.

"Really?!" Pikachu cried, eyes sparkling with joy.

"Of course! It'll be great ta finally get somewhere with dose two small time nitwits!"

"S-small time…" Jessie repeated in disappointed disbelief.

"...Nitwits?" James questioningy continued, his voice dripping with heartbreak.

"This is great! This is really great!" Pikachu cried. "You'll see, Meowth!" he beamed, moving aside to let Team Rocket pass, which they graciously and almost immediately took advantage of. "We'll get that badge, definitely!"

"Why the heck is he letting them go?!" Gary shouted. "They're still criminals, even with that half-understandable conversation! Nurse Joy, call the police!"

"Uh…" Nurse Joy, who had been hiding beneath her desk all along, started timidly, looking down and twiddling her fingers, a beet red blush on her face. "I-It seems the problem has been resolved, and nothing actually got stolen or harmed, so...I...I didn't call anyone…Oh, but uh, y-your Sandshrew is ready! Yup! 100% healthy!" she stammered.

Gary just gaped at her with questioning disgust before deciding to stop worrying so much. "Thanks." he muttered, as he walked up and snatched the Pokeball from her, before he walked out of the door as well, glancing at the ceiling as he left, grumbling things which included "stupidest day ever", "unbelievable", "weird ass Pikachu" and "place almost deserves to get robbed.". He then looked down at his Squirtle, who had a face pockmarked with stings, and paused. Grumbling again, he walked back to the counter to gingerly hand him to Nurse Joy, before slumping onto a nearby couch and sighing deeply.

"Well, glad we all got out of that in one piece." Nidoran said happily, as she and Spearow ran over to Pikachu. "I'd say we did a pretty good job!"

"I liked the part where you nearly fried that bigmouthed cat!" Spearow added in. "Nice to know you really got some resolve in you!...Still, do you really expect them to come to our side, mister? Is this really even a good idea?"

"Either it is, or I'll paralyze them and leave them for Murkrow when they betray me." Pikachu said without missing a beat.

"Yeah, that seems about fair. Let's just get out of here… I'm so tired my feathers are getting heavy…" Spearow moaned.

"Wait!" the Chansey who had beat Meowth up before chimed, running towards the trio. "You said Pokémon League, right? Well, just go north through that big ol' Viridian Forest, and you'll be right in Pewter City! You can get your first badge there!" Chansey advised. "And here, sweetie. Take this, I notice you're not feeling so well." Chansey said to Spearow, handing her the egg from her pouch.

"Well, I don't see how a measly egg is gonna help me all that much, but I am kinda hungry." Spearow said, before pecking away at the shell and tasting the contents, which caused her eyes to immediately go wide. "THIS THING IS GREAT! Way better than stinkin' Rattata eggs!" she cried, gobbling the rest of it up with gusto. Once she finished, and the trio said their goodbyes and thank yous to Chansey, they were off to find a safe place to sleep for the night.… Except the effects of the egg didn't stop at just healing and reenergizing, especially when it was such a small Pokémon's first time trying one...

"HEY. HEY. HEY!" Spearow shrieked, flitting about manically just above the heads of Pikachu and Nidoran "I CAN SING, DID YOU GUYS KNOWS?! DIDJA?! WANNA HEAR ME SING, HUH, WANNA HEAR ME SING?! I CAN, I SWEAR, BUT YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, SO I'M GONNA SING FOR YOU GUYS, OKAY HERE I GO, SINGING FOR YOU GUYS, HERE I GO, HERE I GO, GONNA SING FOR YOU GUYS, GONNA DO IT, GONNA SING FOR YOU, GOTTA SING CAUSE I'M JUST SO HAPPY AND I WANNA-"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Nidoran yelled up at her.

"What kind of shit was in that egg?!" Pikachu cried.

"THE WHOLE SKY WAS IN THAT EGG, MISTER! I UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING NOW, ALL UP UNDER THE BIG SKY LIKE A GIFT FOR US ALL! I'M SO HAPPY I CAIN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT! EVERYTHING IS SHINING LIKE THE MORNING DEW!" Spearow cried.

"I'm scared." Nidoran muttered.

"Maybe if we ignore her she'll burn herself out…" Pikachu answered unsurely, as Spearow actually began to sing some pitchy, off key bird Pokémon folk song.

Sleep and utter silence had never seemed more desirable as the group trudged through the nighttime streets, begrudgingly stuck with their temporarily very childish and hyperactive friend.


End file.
